Tidbits and Things I've Learned

I have so much to catch up on! This blog is completely random photos form my time here in Paris that I wanted to share! A lot of these photos kind of sum up a few of the things I do regularly here.

The Eiffel Tower! (again). One of my favorite things to do here in Paris when I have some free time is simply to walk around. I usually pick one destination in the city, and then after that adventure I walk somewhat aimlessly until I find the next cool thing. On this day I had gone to a museum and after I was finished I began walking. Suddenly, I saw the Eiffel Tower in the distance and just walked in that direction. The thing I love about Paris is that no matter where I am I know I can get home as long as I can find a metro station.

Late night crepes! There is a crepe stand in the Bastille (about 5-10 minutes from where I live). A lot of our nights out end with a Nutella crepe! I've gone to this specific stand many times because it is central and close to a lot of the places I go out to at night.

CHEESE! I eat way too much cheese here. This particular meal was at a small place in Montmartre, but it looks very much like many of the meals I eat here. It is so hard to get away from eating bread and cheese, which is one of the reasons I love having at least a small kitchen. As a vegetarian there are, unfortunately, not many options in Paris. BUT I at least now know how to tell the waiter I am a vegetarian and they can also recommend something. Half of the challenge is simple figuring out which dishes do not have meat in them. All of this being said, the cheese here is GREAT. I always know when I am approaching a cheese store because I can smell it from 50 feet away. I know some people do not like stinky cheese, but I think it is awesome. I have even acquired a taste for Swiss cheese, which is one food I never really liked. OH, the other thing I find funny about cheese is the quantity of cheese that they serve. I ordered a salad with cheese (above) and it came with not one but TWO full appetizer size blue cheese triangles on top IN ADDITION TO a giant circle of emmental cheese. I had to ask other people to help me finish it!

One thing I love about the area I live is the vicinity to the Bastille. While I know there are many places to go out in Paris, the Bastille actually has quite a fun street of restaurants and bars. I have been to the place shown above many times. It is very lively and sort of like a mini club because everyone is dancing! I've even seen them light the bar on fire!

 There is SO much gelato all over the city, and I eat a lot of it. One chain, Amorino, is the place that this pretty flower shaped ice cream above is from. Not only is their gelato delicious, but they also allow you to get so many flavors! Each petal is a different flavor.

I think these were the flavors: speculoos (center), pistachio, mango, tiramisu, blackberry, and raspberry. 

Not the best picture, but I just wanted to show off the vegan/vegetarian section of Pimlico, the little health food store at the bottom of my building. I was so excited to find this, AND it's so convenient. THey have ready-marinated tofu, plain tofu, seitan, tempeh, and so many pre-made patties and other yummy things!

Just a crepe I had at a sit down restaurant! It was salty and delicious.

 I realized I never posted pictures from the Arc de Triumph! I have to say this was probably the most spectacular view of Paris I have seen thus far. It was free for students to go to the top!

The eiffel tower view from the top of the Arc de Triumph!

 The view was completely 360 degrees and so amazing. The clouds were pretty on this day and we were up there just as the sun was setting. If you haven't done this in Paris, you absolutely must!

 How can you not love this city?

 Looking up at the arc!

anndddd one more picture of this pretty thing (:

THINGS I'VE LEARNED:

1. The vents from the subway that are on the sidewalk MUST be avoided when wearing skirts. I've now had two VERY embarrassing Marilyn Monroe moments. The first was on a side street and I with a friend and I was able to laugh it off. The second, however, I was alone and had both hands occupied. To make it worse, this was not one of the small circle vents, it was a 20 foot long vent that shoots air up furiously when you walk across it. Just a warning to all women visiting Paris, be careful. I am now paranoid when I walk. Ugh.

2. Pick-pocket warning: I actually did not know this before I came (and I am glad someone told me about it here early on). There are people who will come up to you and ask you to sign a petition (much like they would in the states). Meanwhile, while they have you attention and you are using both hands, as you need to, to take the clipboard and sign, a friend will walk by and take your phone or wallet. Now, this hasn't happened to me, but I was reminded of it when looking through these photos because I had THREE people approach me in the matter of 15 minutes at the Eiffel Tower. I was actually not even in the hustle and bustle of the tower traffic, but instead in the grass behind the tower. All three people approached me by asking "Excuse me, do you speak English?" It was almost humorous that they all have the same trick for trapping tourists. I am sure they approached me because I was alone and do not look French. A friend of mine almost had her phone stolen by one of these people this week, so everyone, be careful!

3. The ORLY airport is much better to travel in and out of than Charles de Gaul. It is much smaller and easier to navigate. Just a matter of opinion, though.

4. Okay this is more of a story: I shop at a supermarket called Carrefour (they are all over the city). I was in line to buy all of my food, and approached the cashier, said Bonjour and asked for a bag in French. He looked at me and started speaking quickly in French. I got embarrassed because I had no idea what he said and so I replied, "Desole, je ne parle pas Francais."  ("Sorry, I don't speak French"). His eyes widened and the guy behind me in line also looked at me weirdly. They both laughed and the cashier said, in English, "Wow! I thought you spoke French. You speak it so well!" and the guy behind me said "You tricked me too!" It absolutely made my day. Even though I only said about 10 words, I was so happy to hear that my accent isn't as terrible as I thought. It was absolutely a confidence booster. The little things really can make my whole day!

5. I learned that I can make mushroom risotto successfully! I also learned that the quantity I made is enough to feed me for a week. haha

6. They close the running trail on the old railroad line above my building at 7! Last week I ran down to the end, and turned around and ran ALMOST all the way back. Then, they stopped me about a minute before the staircase I needed to take home. So, I had to backtrack and my run ended up being a lot longer than I wanted.

7. People in Europe love asking about America's government "shut down." That's a fun one to talk about.

8. Chocolate actually is better in Switzerland! 

______________________________

I traveled these past two weekends to Munich, Germany and to Switzerland! I am working on those blogs so look out for them soon!

Much Love, Lexa

The Goldest Places in Paris

I am using this blog to catch up on some of the cool things I've seen in Paris but never had a chance to write about. For my fifth excursion way back in August, we went to the Opera Garner, which is the nicest and most well known opera house in Paris. This excursions was a little different because instead of having out teacher lead us, we joined up with another class and were led by a man who works at my program and knows a TON about this place. 

 One of the things I remember about what we learned was that this Opera House was the inspiration for the novel The Phantom of the Opera.  This structure was built over land where the water level was unexpectedly high, causing problems when building the foundation. After many failed attempts at pumping the ground dry, the architect came up with a solution to create a space for an underground "lake" under the theater. He architect claimed there to be a Phantom ghost in the theater. The part of the story when the chandelier falls is actually based off a true event, where a counter-weightof the chandelier fell from the ceiling and killed a patron during a performance. I loved hearing about this theater's connection to Phantom of the Opera because I remember listening to the soundtrack every single car ride when I was little and then finally getting to see the performance years later. I absolutely love both the play and the music.

 A view of both the ceiling and the cool statues that hold the lights. The statues used to hold actual candles, until it became too much of a fire hazzard.

A view of the top of the main staircase. This place was just unbelievably decorated and so vibrant. My neck was strained from looking up for an hour straight.

 I was shocked when we were told that a lot of the detailing is actually mosaic! This is a close up of the beautiful mosaic piece.

Look familiar??? You get a gold star if you can name which famous room this was modeled after (hint: I've blogged about it already). During intermissions men would come into this long main hallway to have a smoke and a drink, while women stayed in their boxes and never made an appearance. 

 Just another view of the main front room!

 So we weren't able to actually go into the theater because there was practice going on, but they let us sneak into one of the booths to get a sneak peak of them practicing! (which I think is even cooler). 

 Our guide was telling us that the Opera was a very important part of social life. Men and women would have season tickets to the Opera, and would come to every single show basically just to make an appearance. Many times, these people would just sit in their private boxes either knitting, talking, or doing anything other than watching the show they had seen so many times. When people arrived to the Opera, he explained that these little overhangs were the perfect spot to gossip about everyone entering the opera house and comment on who was with who and who was wearing what. I am definitely going to see a show (hopefully a ballet) at this Opera house while I am here. That also gives me an excuse to go shopping and find something for a fancy night (:

 While just as gold, this place is not the Opera. After our tour, Jen and I went over to Galleries Lafayette, an upscale mall just down the street from the Opera. It is filled with the most expensive designers and so many nice things. There were over 7 or 8 floors!

 So incredible and so pretty!

The bottom floor was full of make-up and fragrance. The floor just below that was shoe HEAVEN. I couldn't get a good picture of it, but it was incredible.

Look out for some more "catch-up" type blogs (: